El Salvador. We do not have a good youth soccer development program as we did a couple of years ago. The U-23 USA team had a horrible defense, which the same can said for the Senior Mens National Team, and the goalkeeper for the U-23 team sucks. How the hell do you let a team score with just 10 seconds left in extra time??

Microwave, the thing about soccer fans in the USA and Canada is that we don't give a shit what other sport fans in the USA have to say about soccer. The rest of the world has recognized that the US is coming up quickly in their international level of play and Canada will soon be there as there are more Canadian expansion teams in the MLS now.

I'm so dumb at soccer that when I was waiting for a hockey game to start on Monday and it suddenly occurred to me that the Canada/Cuba game might be on for me to check the score I kept fipping back and forth between the soccer game and the guide in confusion because the guide kept telling me the soccer game was over in five minutes but the game kept saying 88 minutes, 89 minutes. Despite this I actually couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the soccer clock was counting up for like two whole minutes. (Hockey counts down) And then something happened and somebody rolled around on the ground a bit and this resulted in a free kick or penalty kick or whatever and Cuba tied Canada in the 90th minute. I think that's how I finally figured the clock was counting up, because the commentators pretty much lost their minds at this turn of events. I didn't completely know what they were talking about, but the subtext was definitely "How can this team of moronic Canadians with the apparent athletic skills of drunken donkeys have allowed this to occur?" They kept making these terrible noises during the replay like "Ohhhhhhh", "OHHHHHHH", "OHHHHHH!!!!". So soccer and I hardly know each other and it was still hurting me inside. Then I watched a seriously great hockey game to get over the whole ordeal.

Anyway Canada should get creamed by Mexico on Saturday. Though one never knows I suppose...all the pressure and expectations will be on Mexico, which can benefit the underdog greatly.

greaserkat wrote: Microwave, the thing about soccer fans in the USA and Canada is that we don't give a shit what other sport fans in the USA have to say about soccer. The rest of the world has recognized that the US is coming up quickly in their international level of play and Canada will soon be there as there are more Canadian expansion teams in the MLS now.

That and just it's a very boring sport. I mean, basically, it's the same concept as hockey... except one big difference. Just watch each. You won't nod off during a hockey game. Try and try as they have to get it some attention here, still that one fact remains. It's boring. I mean would you watch a Marathon on TV? Or even be a spectator? People driving around in circles seems to be more popular... who would have thought that?

The example you provide is that of the American sports fan. If soccer was sooooo boring, then why is it the most popular sport in the world?

Americans like things where they don't have to do shit, even when beeing a spectator at a sports event: Nascar, sit your ass down for 4 hours and watch cars go around in a circle while eating burgers, hot dogs and beer; Baseball, sit your ass for 3-4 hours and watch "athletes" who are almost the same weight as you stand for most of the game trying to hit a ball that is thrown at them every 40 seconds or so while they eat burgers, hot dogs and beer.

I like baseball, but it could be argued that it is boring, which I think demonstrates that the mechanics of any given sport are really far less important than the cultural memory. It's interesting that Microwave pointed out the similarities between soccer and hockey - in 2010 leading up to the World Cup when there was actual serious mainstream media commentary about whether or not soccer was boring, I recall a piece that complained that both hockey and soccer were boring for the same reason: that for all the activity there was a relatively low probability of anything unusual or rewarding (goals etc.) happening.

I don't think that a game that is so loved globally by as many people as soccer is can possibly be objectively boring. Many aspects of North American culture are kind of fast and noisy and full of instant rewards and short attention spans, and in some ways our games reflect that. Soccer requires patience and the appreciation of more subtle things. With an average of about a third of the shots on goal of a typical hockey game, pace and subtlety make it a hard game to learn and understand, which probably directly results in many finding it a hard game to love.

I wasn't saying that to insult your sport, I was providing the reasoning for lack of interest in the US. It has to be BAM BAM BAM or we lose it.

But saying it is the most popular sport in the world? Where do you come up with that? The most watched (televised) sporting contest EVER was a regular season NBA Basketball game. Does that make Basketball the world's most popular sport, No. Yes, it did happen to be the Dallas Mavericks... not the Lakers or the Heat. There's many ways to skew something into the "Most Popular". Remember, Freddie was not the most popular front man... Bon Jovi was... according to a poll.

Maybe soccer would become more popular if their fans started eating BURGERS, HOT DOGS, and BEER. But then the fans might spill their urine bombs onto their food, thus ruining it.

Most popular sport sport in South America is soccer, in Europe it's soccer, in Africa it's soccer, bottom half of North America it's soccer. Just ask our fellow Queenzoners here from various part of the world what the most popular sport is in their country.

More people buy Cowboys jerseys in South America, more people buy Cowboys jerseys in Europe, more people buy Cowboy jerseys in Africa. Only in China do NBA jerseys outsell Cowboy jerseys AND soccer jerseys.

More people watch Baseball on TV.

Like I said, depending onhow you skew it we could go at this for days.

Fact remains, it's a very boring sport. What exactly is exciting about it? You kick a ball and run around chasing it. The only skill is the 7 or 8 times PER GAME that it's actually kicked at the goal.

Plus, what sport do little kids start out with? SOCCER!!! Because it's so easy. You don't see too many 5 year olds putting on the pads for football or hockey.

I think most in the USA are pretty much A-OK with other countries wiping the walls with us in soccer.

That's 6 NFL teams in the top ten... only 3 Soccer teams. But overall, I'd say it's about a push. Soccer is played all over the world and can't generate more revenue than a sport played in one country.

Micrówave wrote: Plus, what sport do little kids start out with? SOCCER!!! Because it's so easy. You don't see too many 5 year olds putting on the pads for football or hockey.

Most parents here are like me - they have a sentimental knot of about 8 pairs of soccer shoes in their basements they haven't been able to bear throwing out. The main benefit of soccer or t-ball for small children over hockey or football is not the 'easiness' but the minimal equipment. They grow like weeds and all you have to replace are shoes annually and shin pads less often than that. I think that's why most parents choose soccer for little ones here, along with the low pressure and great exercise. It's pretty much what everybody does who wants to avoid 6:00 am arena slots for hockey.